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The Vulcan hangover (this is far from over)

Like many others, I have lost some sleep because of the Azusa Rock Quarry mining proposal controversy in Azusa.

My loss of sleep is more of the I had to work until the wee hours of the morning due to a late council meeting variety rather than the “soul searching” Mayor Joe Rocha was speaking of last night, but, nonetheless, it has been a long ride for everyone involved for a myriad of reasons.

Anyway, despite the final decision being handed down last night giving approval to Vulcan’s plan to shift its operations to the west, everyone should already know – this fight is far from over.

Duarte has contended for a long time that they would fight this in court. That decision will come soon.

Then there is the potential referendum from Save Our Canyon.

So, while everyone is feeling the hangover from last night’s/this morning’s decision, recover soon because there is more where that came from.

A preview of tomorrow’s story.

AZUSA – In a decision that many council members said would define their careers representing the city, a new Azusa Rock Quarry mining proposal passed 4-1 Wednesday morning.

After nearly six hours of discussion ended just after midnight Wednesday, the Azusa council reversed an earlier decision and decided to allow mining to go west into Van Tassel Ridge in exchange for an overall better looking hillside, officials said.

“This council is going to be chiseling its name in stone for a project that we are going to have to live with,” councilman Keith Hanks said at the meeting. “We are going to own this one way or the other.”

The proposal also takes mining further away from Azusa’s Mountain Cove community, spares Fish Ridge, adds millions of dollars in revenue to the city, and forces Vulcan to reshape previous mining benches into smaller benches the city hopes will improve an eyesore.

Mayor Joe Rocha, the lone dissenting vote, said he was “heartbroken” by the decision to cut down Van Tassel Ridge.

“Once that ridge is gone, it is gone forever,” he said. “We will have to preserve it in pictures.”